Chapter 72: The Academy

The Chongzhen Emperor had already decided in his heart to cut straight to the substance, so he said: "The passing of the Elderly Lady Liu grieves Our heart deeply. Neither We nor Great Ming can allow the Elderly Lady Liu to have sacrificed herself in vain."

Having said this, he addressed Liu Xingzuo: "Liu Xingzuo, receive the decree."

Liu Xingzuo, who had been half-seated on his stool, hurriedly fell to his knees and kowtowed, saying: "Your subject Liu Xingzuo reverently attends to the sacred instruction."

Chongzhen said: "The Elderly Lady Liu sacrificed herself for the nation. We deeply honor her loyalty and righteousness, and posthumously enfeoff her as the Lord of Loyalty and Righteousness, of the upper first rank.

Bestow upon her one ancestral shrine and three memorial archways to the loyal and valorous, to be erected by the local authorities of her native district.

Furthermore, the ashes of the Elderly Lady Liu shall be enshrined and venerated within the Shrine of the Loyal, that she may enjoy offerings of blood and food, with incense and fire unbroken through the four seasons."

Hearing this, Liu Xingzuo was already streaming with tears, his heart filled with ceaseless joy on behalf of his departed old mother. He hurriedly said: "Your subject Liu Xingzuo receives the decree and gives thanks for this grace.

Long live my Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

After bidding Liu Xingzuo to rise, Chongzhen continued: "What is past is past. My beloved minister must still rouse his spirits.

When Great Ming is pacified within in days to come, We shall personally lead the imperial expedition to Liaodong. When that time comes, Minister Liu shall serve as the vanguard, and use the lives of the Jianzhou barbarians as burial offerings for the Elderly Lady Liu."

After Liu Xingzuo had offered yet another round of thanks for imperial grace, Chongzhen went on: "The reason We summoned Our beloved minister Liu to the capital this time is for the matter of organizing and drilling the New Army.

Though Great Ming's guard battalions are numerous, after three hundred years of steady decay, they are already utterly useless.

It is Our intention to separately organize and drill one garrison of the New Army, and We precisely require the aid of beloved ministers Liu and Xu in this."

Liu Xingzuo and Xu Guangqi both cupped their hands and said: "Your subjects are willing to die in Your Majesty's service."

Chongzhen, however, waved his hand and said: "From now on, don't always be going on about dying and dying. Everyone stay well and sound. From here on out, let the Jianzhou barbarians do the dying, and that will be that." Having spoken, he was himself amused by his own words.

Chongzhen continued: "Just now We discussed firearms for a while with beloved minister Xu. We now have some ideas. Beloved minister Xu, come advise Us and see whether they can be realized."

Xu Guangqi said: "Pray, Your Majesty, give your instructions."

Chongzhen said: "Do the guns of today not require a lit match? We are thinking: what if a mechanism were used, so that a flint strikes a spark?

Would this not save the time needed to light the match? The officers and men would all pull their triggers together — would the Jianzhou barbarians not then simply be queuing up to be executed by firing squad?"

The scene Chongzhen had imagined, of Xu Guangqi prostrating himself and hailing him as a heaven-sent genius, did not materialize.

Instead, he felt rather as if the old man Xu had slapped him in the face: "Your subject memorializes Your Majesty: the mechanism Your Majesty speaks of has long existed in our Great Ming."

Chongzhen felt inwardly awkward, but years of driving experience as an old hand on 1024 kept his face from showing it. He asked: "If that is so, why was it that when the Jianzhou barbarians breached the passes before, the firearms We observed the various armies using were all matchlocks?"

Xu Guangqi said: "In memorial to Your Majesty, this matter is entirely due to the inadequate quality of the steel and iron. Furthermore, both matchlocks and flintlock guns require the use of a ramrod to tamp the charge and ball into the barrel; the difference in time is not great.

The cost of a flintlock, however, is higher than that of a matchlock. For this reason, our Great Ming has not equipped them in large numbers."

Hearing this, Chongzhen thought: mother of fuck, finally an opportunity for Us to show off.

With a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he said lightly: "In that case, We shall decree that silver be drawn from the privy purse to establish a separate institute, to be named the Great Ming Royal Academy, under the overall direction of beloved minister Xu.

The division of its disciplines — such as mathematics, firearms, and so forth — shall all be at beloved minister Xu's sole discretion. We understand little of these matters, and shall not meddle by pointing fingers, lest We incur the dislike of you, beloved minister Xu?"

At these words from Chongzhen, Xu Guangqi was overjoyed. At last, there was an emperor willing to support his research into these things that interested him.

He immediately declared his stance: "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for this profound favor. It is only that the dynasty is not wealthy at present.

Your subject's family also possesses some modest assets; I am willing to sell off the family property and invest it into this Great Ming Royal Academy. I beseech Your Majesty's gracious approval."

Hearing this, Chongzhen gave a hearty laugh and said to Xu Guangqi: "Beloved minister Xu, set your mind at ease. We previously confiscated the property of those eight traitorous Shanxi merchant houses.

The national treasury has silver aplenty; within ten years, the treasury need not worry over border levies or the Liaodong levy.

As for this Great Ming Royal Academy, all required funds and related expenditures shall be disbursed from the privy purse. So long as the privy purse is not empty, beloved minister Xu may pursue his research without worry.

Without drawing from the national treasury, it will also spare Us the nagging chatter of the grandees at court.

In the future, for this Academy of Sciences, the academy director and research academicians shall not be assigned official rank; in protocol they shall be one grade senior to any official, and even when facing princes of the blood or marquises, they need not initiate formal obeisance.

The relevant ranks for other non-research personnel and menial staff shall be decided after beloved minister Xu discusses them with the Ministry of Personnel and reports to Us for final determination."

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi was moved beyond all measure. Choking with emotion, he said: "For Your Majesty's grace of recognition and patronage, your subject can only repay it with ten thousand deaths!"

Chongzhen, however, said: "Just now We said not to keep going on about ten thousand deaths this and ten thousand deaths that, yet beloved minister Xu has not remembered it in the slightest." As he spoke, he himself began to laugh first.

Xu Guangqi, abashed, said: "Your subject has lost his composure. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

Chongzhen said: "This sort of loss of composure — We hope for more and more of it."

After this emotional reflection, Chongzhen continued: "At present, We have a task to assign to beloved minister Xu to carry out."

Xu Guangqi said: "Pray, Your Majesty, give your command."

Chongzhen said: "We shall order the construction of this Great Ming Royal Academy at the imperial estate south of the capital. The cement workshop from before — merge its research personnel into the Royal Academy.

The entire academy shall be built using cement, modeled on the defenses of the Imperial City. We shall order the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Inner Investigative Depot to coordinate and jointly provide protection.

Secrecy work must be thoroughly ensured.

Once the Great Ming Royal Academy is completed, beloved minister Xu shall organize personnel and devote efforts to the research and development of firearms.

We set forth several requirements, which beloved minister Xu must see properly fulfilled.

First, these firearms must use a flint striking mechanism for ignition; the method of lighting a matchcord must not be used.

Second, We observe that the charge and ball for these firearms are all tamped down from the muzzle with a ramrod, which is highly inconvenient when facing the enemy.

Beloved minister Xu, look into how to package these charges in fixed quantities, pre-packaged in advance, so that when facing the enemy, one need only load the charge into the gun and fire.

In this way, would the Jianzhou barbarians not truly be queuing up, waiting for Our great army to come and execute them by firing squad?

Third, it concerns the range of the firearms. If the range of the firearms surpasses that of bows and crossbows, then the Jianzhou barbarians are surely doomed."

Xu Guangqi, however, gave a wry smile and said: "Your Majesty, the first two problems are relatively easy to address; with gradual research, there is always hope.

But improving the range of firearms is no easy matter."

Chongzhen, however, said: "Beloved minister Xu, set your mind at ease. We are a layman, merely offering opinions. As for range, you might try lengthening the barrel, and drilling spiral rifling grooves inside the barrel, to see if that can extend it.

However, We are a layman after all. As for the specifics of how to proceed, beloved minister Xu must devote much thought to it. We are only responsible for putting forward opinions; how to achieve them is the problem for you, the director of the Royal Academy.

Furthermore, do not fear wasting materials; conduct many experiments. Do not fear failure either. No matter what, Our privy purse is backing you, beloved minister. Beloved minister, simply go and do it with full confidence."

After finishing his arrangements for Xu Guangqi, Chongzhen then began to discuss the matter of the New Army with Liu Xingzuo.

This... nothing much to say. The author's hand speed is a bit slow...

(End of chapter)